Re: How do people do this?

[Chris Lyttle <chris wilddev net>]

On Thu, 2002-09-19 at 22:09, Malcolm Tredinnick wrote:
> I am wondering how people approach writing their GNOME documents (and
> anything else they do involving Docbook style markup). This is more idle
> curiosity than anything else.
> 
> I have also tried doing the markup as I go along the first time (which I
> tend to do for short documents anyway), since I have a fairly hefty set
> of vim macros setup to make adding tags flow fairly naturally into my
> typing. This way feels a bit awkward, though (the macros aren't entirely
> natural constructs, since otherwise they would be triggered by normal
> typing of English), and I find that I often lose the thread of what I am
> trying to say whilst adding the tag soup.
> 
> Also, I find the markup phase to be mind-numbingly boring. Honestly, I
> would rather clean my apartment than markup documents sometimes and I
> suspect that this stops me writing more than I do (this is _not_ a quiet
> plea for help, since I don't think anybody would _enjoy_ doing the
> markup).
> 

Hah! I am almost exactly the same as you but for the opposite reason, I
would much rather site and markup a document than actually have to
figure out text that flows well, etc. Its not that I cant do it, its
just that to me actually writing something is like I imagine giving
birth would be, long painful and difficult (tho the result is often
wonderful). If I sit down to actually do something I frequently find
myself attending to doing bits of markup, fiddling with how the build is
setup or making OMF files instead of actually writing unless I've got a
deadline then I tell myself I _must_ do it. I dont find the markup phase
boring at all, in fact I _enjoy_ putting it in and testing it out to see
how it looks! (there, see, someone does enjoy it).
So my approach is often markup as you go as I find it so painful to
actually write something I can avoid it longer by writing a little then
doing the markup for it as I go.

Chris

PS I'd love to get a copy of your vimrc to see if I could use any of
your macros ;)
-- 
RedHat Certified Engineer #807302549405490.
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